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DAILYREPUBLIC.COM | Well said. Well read.

Sheriff wants to develop new police academy in Solano Todd R. Hansen

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Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic file

Adrian Gonzalez receives his Covid-19 vaccination during a Touro University Mobile Clinic, April 6.

Public quicker than health industry to leave Covid-19 emergency behind Todd R. Hansen

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FAIRFIELD — Supervisor John Vasquez ended 2022 with a scratchy throat and a slight headache. He thought it was a sinus infection, an infliction he often has had after rainstorms. But Vasquez, despite being vaccinated and boosted, had been infected with the coronavirus, likely catching it from a family member who had been sick, too. He joins the 53,498 others who are known to have been infected in 2022 – only about 8,900 fewer than the prior 21 months of the pandemic

combined. And that 2022 figure is likely far higher since many positive tests would have never been reported to Public Health because of home testing or people choosing not to be tested at all because of the symptoms have been less serious. The last report from Public Health on Dec. 29 put the total cases for the pandemic at 115,875. However, far fewer individuals died or even became sick enough to be admitted into a hospital. The start of 2022 saw more than 150 residents in hospitals and more than 30 in intensive care units. The end of the year totals put hospitalizations at 35 and fewer than

TOP STORIES YEAR IN REVIEW five in ICUs. Part of that is due to vaccinations, said Dr. Bela Matyas, the Solano County public health officer, See Covid, Page A9

New assessor takes 1st oath with 3 veteran county officials THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Glenn Zook is not a newcomer to the Solano County Assessor’s Office, and has been, in essence, groomed for the top job for the better part of a year. Still, on Friday, Zook took his first oath of office as part of a group that also included the longest sitting elected official. County Counsel Bernadette Curry administered the oath of office, as a group, to Zook, Charles Lomeli, who will start his seventh term as treasurertax collector-county clerk

at noon Jan. 2, SheriffCoroner Tom Ferrara and Auditor-Controller Phyllis Taynton. Zook, Lomeli and Taynton, who is starting her second four-year term, are all working on a new property tax system they hope to have up and running in February. “That is going to be significant. It is going to change how we collect taxes from top to bottom,” Lomeli said. “The main advantage, and it is a complicated system and will take time to get everyone trained on it, but it is s fully automated system with

a complete (account) history . . . That kind of data will reduce the amount of time we need to do that kind of research.” All three hope the new Aumentum system will be more efficient, and more user-friendly from the public’s perspec-

tive as well. It is a project the county has been working on for some time. But it is not the only thing the county officials have to face in their new terms. See Oath, Page A9

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FAIRFIELD — Sheriff Tom Ferrara wants to develop a police academy in the county, and said having a six-year term instead of the usual four provides a unique opportunity to get that done. “We can actually focus on furthering the Sheriff’s Office,” Ferrara said. FERRARA Ferrara and District Attorney Krishna Abrams get two extra years on their new terms because the state Legislature wanted those offices decided during a presidential cycle when more voters typically turn out than during the gubernatorial cycle. Ferrara does

not think it really matters that much. “If you go back, there may be a fewer number of people who voted, but I don’t think the demographics change and the election (result) doesn’t change,” said Ferrara, who took his oath of office on Friday. Ferrara said his office put on a single corrections academy course at the end of the year, the first time in Solano County. “Our goal is to do two or three a year,” said the sheriff, who was appointed by the Board of Supervisors in 2012 and won election bids in 2014, 2018 and now 2022. The bigger project is the nine-month See Sheriff, Page A9

Pope Benedict XVI dies at 95, conservative pontiff was first in 600 years to resign Los Angeles Times Benedict XVI, the former pope who spent years in the Vatican upholding conservative Catholic teaching but who upended centuries of tradition by resigning as pontiff, died Saturday, the Vatican announced. He was 95. The German-born Benedict lived out his final years in a converted monastery at the Vatican, giving rise to the anomalous situation of two popes in one place, which later inspired the 2019 film “The Two Popes”. But his successor, Francis, accorded him great respect and never appeared fazed at having a possible rival in such close proximity. Bookish and shy,

Benedict withdrew to a life of study and prayer “hidden from the world” after announcing in February 2013 that he would step down from the throne of St. Peter. The shock decision — the first time a pope voluntarily abdicated in nearly 600 years — followed a decline in his health amid the strain of continued scandals within the Vatican and criticism from without. He spent his eightyear papacy trying to turn back the rising tide of secularism in Europe, defending the church’s response to widespread allegations of clerical sexual abuse and, toward the end, dealing with the embarrassing leak of his See Pope, Page A9

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